Page 25 - Army Mountaineer Winter 2022

THE SAPPER ALPS MEET IN A CHANGING ALPS
Mike Dudley JS AMI
Fusing the themes of glaciation and the Royal Engineers’ recent excursion to the French and
Swiss Alps, Mike Dudley highlights how our changing climate is affecting the snow and ice we take for granted
Human-caused climate change is happening – this is beyond dispute (Note 1) – and it is affecting the mountain environment we work and play in. Following a relatively low snowfall winter and heatwaves in early and then mid-summer, the Alps in summer 2022 were the driest and hottest they have been since records began. The 0° isotherm was often way above the summits. As many readers will have experienced first-hand, this meant for some challenging conditions.
On high routes, what is often snowpack, was this year underlying glacial-hard ice or bare rock. Some rocky routes have come into good condition, whilst many others have been destabilised by the melting permafrost. Increased rockfall, enlarged crevasses with thinning snow-
bridges, increased serac fall, trickier bergschrunds to cross... were all greater factors this summer than in years gone by. Many guides’ companies stopped guiding certain routes (such as the normal routes on the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc), some huts closed temporarily to discourage climbers, 11 died in a serac fall on the Marmolada in July, and generally things have felt a notch more serious than in previous cooler summers.
In July/August, the Royal Engineers’ Mountaineering & Exploration Club (REMEC) deployed for 3 weeks to make what we could of the conditions. The plan was to deliver Alpine Mountain Foundation (AMF) and continuation training over the
The most photographed pitch in Chamonix (Mike Dudley)
first 10 days (broadly out of Chamonix) and then move to Switzerland for an instructor development week, bringing on future Alpine Mountain Leaders (AML) and instructors (AMI).
With many high objectives out of condition, much of the time in Chamonix was spent doing quasi-alpine routes in the Aiguilles Rouges (various routes from F to TD). On the other side of the valley, teams walked up from the Albert Premier hut to discover conditions unsuitable on the Col du Tour, Col Superior du Tour and Table Arête, so instead ascended Tête Blanche (via the normal route, F), which allowed some time on crampons. An ascent of the Cosmiques Arête (AD) gave some
Climbing in the Engelhörner basin, Switzerland (Mike Dudley)
More cragging in the Aiguilles Rouges (REMEC)
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